The Elephants

The Elephant Repairman by Kenn Nesbitt (Stanzas 1 and 5)

If your elephant is broken

and she needs a quick repair,

call the elephant repairman

and he’ll instantly be there.

And it’s guaranteed your elephant

will soon be good as new

since repairing broken elephants

is what he likes to do.

But he cannot fix your dinosaur,

your dragon, or your duck.

So, if one of them is broken,

I’m afraid you’re out of luck.

— Kenn Nesbitt

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What is an elephant chair? An elephant chair is a mid-century modern chair that when viewed from the side evokes the shape of an elephant: You can see the thick legs and the round shape of the elephant. Can you see it?

Several years ago I read a book about elephants. "The Elephant Whisperer" by Lawrence Anthony tells the story of the creation of an elephant sanctuary in South Africa. I named these chairs after two elephants in the book. They took sanctuary in my "repair shop" for a while. The smaller elephant chair, previously pink in the photo below, is Thula, named after a baby elephant in the book who becomes a leader in the herd. Thula means peace. The big, gray chair, gray in the before photo below is Gobisa, named after a huge bull. Gobisa means "to bend." Given the bendy shape of this chair, seems appropriate.

These elephant chairs were from two different makers, probably built a decade or so apart, sporting two very different frames. We modified Gobisa's frame so the elephants looked like they belonged to the same herd. Gobisa remains the larger of the two chairs. The client chose a Kravet performance velvet in Eucalyptus green.

While I enjoyed my time with the elephants please keep in mind: "I cannot fix your dinosaur, your dragon or your duck. So if one of them is broken, I'm afraid you're out of luck."

Thanks to poet Kenn Nesbitt for his clever description of Elephant Repair. The full version of his clever poem can be found here. https://poetry4kids.com/poems/the-elephant-repairman/